Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Decreases Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA cut its Duke Energy stake by 76.6% in the first quarter, selling 219,193 shares and leaving it with 67,106 shares valued at about $9.48 million.
• Several insiders sold shares in recent transactions, including CEO Louis E. Renjel and CEO Harry K. Sideris, while institutional investors still own 65.31% of Duke Energy’s stock.
• Duke Energy reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the quarter, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.065 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.3%.

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lowered its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 76.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 219,193 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 125.8% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 85,875 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,244,000 after buying an additional 47,844 shares in the last quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC now owns 2,461 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.8% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $265,000. Finally, Crown Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 10.6% in the first quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,081 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total value of $438,025.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at $2,680,087.25. The trade was a 14.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total value of $2,487,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 96,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,952,205.74. This trade represents a 17.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Evercore boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays cut their price target on Duke Energy from $143.00 to $134.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Duke Energy from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Capitol Sec Mgt cut shares of Duke Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.33.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $128.35 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $113.89 and a one year high of $134.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $100.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 15.49%.The business had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Duke Energy's payout ratio is 65.24%.

Key Duke Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being highlighted as a defensive stock in a higher-inflation, higher-rate environment, which can attract income-oriented investors looking for stability and dividends. Buy 4 Defensive Stocks as Inflation Hits Highest Level in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated an Outperform rating on Duke Energy, saying it can execute despite near-term regulatory challenges; the firm also maintained a higher price target than the current trading range. Mizuho Says Duke Energy (DUK) Can Execute Despite Near-Term Regulatory Challenges
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy’s efforts to harden the grid ahead of hurricane season, including “self-healing” upgrades, could support reliability and reduce outage risk over time. Duke Energy prepares for hurricane season with “self-healing” upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also being discussed as a high-dividend blue-chip utility, reinforcing its appeal as a steady income name rather than a growth stock. Is Duke Energy (DUK) One of the Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Dividends?
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general still says Duke’s revised request for an 11.6% rate hike is too high, keeping regulatory pressure front and center for the stock. Duke Energy cuts proposed NC rate hike to 11.6%, still too high, AG says
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh headlines about a lawsuit over Duke’s solar procurement pause and local service disruptions, including an Asheville outage, add to concerns about operations and public scrutiny. Lawsuit targets Duke Energy solar pause that could raise customer bills Power outage hits downtown Asheville; underground equipment damaged: Duke Energy
• Negative Sentiment: Community pushback in places like Clearwater and Swain County over Duke projects suggests continued local resistance that could slow development or raise costs. Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility Swain property owners express Duke Needmore route concerns

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company's core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.